


A Barbed Tongue

by Shujinkakusama



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Arguing, Bad Flirting, F/F, Freeform, Gen, Jasper Redemption (Steven Universe), Timeline What Timeline, platonic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-10
Updated: 2016-11-10
Packaged: 2018-08-30 04:12:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,784
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8518054
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shujinkakusama/pseuds/Shujinkakusama
Summary: Pearl is trying to work on a new project, with somewhat embarrassingly bad results. Jasper tries to help, in her way. // Ambiguous timeline, Jaspearl if you absolutely squint.





	

“This is impossible!” Pearl lamented, waist-deep in a command panel for the ship Homeworld had sent full of rubies. Bringing it back to Earth and landing it successfully had been easy enough; Pearl could pilot Era One tech without difficulty, and it seemed that the interface wasn’t all that different when it came to Era Two machines. She reached up to tug at some strange wiring, eager to get to the bottom of what weapons the ship was equipped with, to make prototypes to further protect the Temple. The blast canon equipped to the drill was long since burnt out, unusable after the damage the pod had sustained during its return trip from inside the Earth’s crust, and Pearl was loathe to admit that the Quartezine Quartet wasn’t adequate weaponry to defend the Temple or Beach City from more competent invaders than the ruby squad.

 

Which meant repurposing blasters from _this_ ship. And that required finding the right circuit board without getting zapped.

 

“Red one,” Jasper’s voice cut in from nearby. Pearl pushed herself out from underneath the ship panel, looking tired and irritated, and covered in an oil-like substance that Jasper likely could have identified if Pearl asked.

 

“What?”

 

“The red board’s the one you want,” Jasper said again, staring down at Pearl evenly. “You’re looking for the weapons control board, right? It’s red.”

 

“How do you know—“

 

“I ask questions,” Jasper said, crouching beside her but still towering over the slight Gem. Pearl stared, and the quartz sighed. “I spent three weeks on a ship with Peridot asking how it worked. She hated it, but I got a lot of answers out of her. Try the red panel.”

 

Pearl stared for a long moment, then nodded, clamoring back into the opening and squirming her way in enough to reach new panels. The cooling rods were shot, but Pearl supposed that made sense, after the rubies had traveled all over the Solar System looking for Jasper.

 

She found the panel finally, just out of reach, and groaned in frustration. “I can’t reach it!”

 

Jasper peered into the hatch, looking perplexed and resolutely trying not to make it obvious that she was—for all intents and purposes—looking up Pearl’s tunic. “Come again?”

 

“It’s too far up. I’ll need to access it from another entry point.”

 

“Just shapeshift,” Jasper said blandly, and Pearl gave her the sort of glare that _should_ have been icy enough to frost Hell over. Lucky for Jasper, she was barely affected. “Stretch. You’re not that far from it.”

 

“In case you forgot, I’m not _able_ to shapeshift,” Pearl grumbled, looking around the chamber for something to grab onto to hoist herself up. She found a metal outcropping and tried that, wincing as it sliced into her palm. It took real concentration to harden her form, but that helped, a little.

 

At least she couldn’t bleed everywhere.

 

“Oh yeah,” Jasper said, “You’re early Era One, aren’t you?”

 

“White Court, early Era One, steadfast class,” Pearl grumbled, and to her horror the metal gave slightly under her weight as she used it to pull herself in deeper.

 

Jasper frowned, listened to Pearl grunt and grumble as she tried to keep from getting too tangled up in the wiring. This would have been easier in zero-g. This would have been even _easier_ if Peridot had her limb enhancers to do the job.

 

“No wonder you’re a knight. You sure you don’t want Peridot for this?”

 

“I am _perfectly capable_ ,” Pearl hissed, earning an uncomfortable zap when she came too close to the exposed power source for the panel she was working on. “Do you know how to cut power to the ship properly?”

 

“Rip out the core?”

 

It was supposed to be a joke, but Pearl wasn’t laughing. She huffed through her nose and tried to disengage from the conversation, focusing instead on which connectors were identifiably power-related—yellow, if other panels were the norm—and searching for a way to _remove_ these.

 

It was soldered down.

 

Pearl wanted to scream.

 

Jasper was still watching her, watched frustration pooling blue in her cheeks. “Are you going to cry?”

 

“Not in front of you!” Pearl snapped, and Jasper laughed, which decidedly did not help at all, in any way, _period_.

 

“Get on out of there, Pearl, there’s no point,” she said, “Why don’t you just ask Peridot to—“

 

“Because _I_ can do this _without_ Peridot! Stop underestimating me because of my Gem type!”

 

The mirth fell away from Jasper’s shining golden eyes, and she reached up, grasping Pearl’s leg none-too-gingerly. “Get out of there,” Jasper ordered, tugging hard enough that Pearl lost her grip on the metal ledge.

 

“Jasper!”

 

“ _Now_ ,” the quartz growled, and Pearl squirmed her way through the wiring as her hands and arms caught. The red panel, at least, came down a foot or so with her before she could get her hand free, and soon enough, Jasper had pulled her completely free of the craft. “We’ve got a conversation to have.”

 

“Is it _really_ the time?” Pearl spluttered, staring up at Jasper from the slanted ramp she was splayed across.

 

“It’s exactly the time,” Jasper growled back, folding her arms, lips curling back in a sneer. “You seem to think I don’t know who you are. I’m not _stupid_ , Pearl. You should know that by now.”

 

She did. Pearl couldn’t look Jasper in the eye, but she knew that she deserved that. “I never said—“

 

“And I never said you couldn’t do things because of your caste!” Jasper’s voice was loud, too loud, and made the metal ramp beneath Pearl shudder for her. Pearl scowled up at her companion—her very recent ally—and folded her arms defensively. “In case you forgot, I’m not _from_ Homeworld,” she spat, “I’ve lived there, but I started out here. On Earth. Fighting _you_. I’ve heard nothing but legends about you from the day I emerged.”

 

Pearl felt heat in her cheeks, and she looked askance. “Sorry I don’t live up to the legends,” she muttered, and this time, Jasper regained her attention by denting the ship’s hull with her fist. “Jasper, the ship!”

 

“I don’t know where you got this quitter attitude, but it needs to stop _yesterday_ if we’re going to protect this planet,” Jasper said, unfazed, glaring down at her. Pearl didn’t disappoint on the battlefield; it was at home, where she was complacent and… and _pearl_ -like, where Jasper had a problem with the duality of her personality. This wasn’t the Terrifying Renegade she’d come to expect.

 

The smaller Gem frowned, brows furrowed, and pushed herself upright. “What quitter attitude? I’m still determined to do my job— _our_ job!”

 

Jasper hiked an eyebrow up. “This is impossible; you can’t defend the Temple; you can’t reach the panel; you can’t shapeshift—“

 

“Those are all _facts,_ Jasper!”

 

“When did _facts_ stop your side during the war?” Jasper bit back, “I distinctly recall your entire inner circle being _renowned_ for pulling off the impossible! Are you going to try to sell me on the idea that you follow the rules _now_?”

 

Blue flooded Pearl’s cheeks and she had to look away, embarrassed. Jasper wasn’t wrong, exactly. “I’m older now,” she said, knowing it was an excuse, and Jasper looked ready to call her on it. Pearl sighed. “It was easier when… Rose was here, Bismuth was here, and the others—it’s harder now, not to get caught up in limitations.”

 

“You’re _the Renegade_ ,” Jasper said firmly, crossing her arms across her massive chest. “You don’t come with limitations outside of sparring matches, Pearl.”

 

“You know that’s not—“

 

“True? _Practical_? Do you hear yourself?” Jasper leaned in, almost Gem-to-nose with her companion. “When has any of that ever mattered? I thought you Crystal Gems took even the slimmest chances at victory!”

 

There was that distinction; _you_ Crystal Gems, because Jasper still wore a diamond on her chest—pink now, but it was decidedly not a star—and Pearl frowned. “We—I—do!” Pearl spluttered indignantly, “You just _pulled me out_ of the ship before I could get to work—“

 

“You were going to electrocute yourself,” Jasper’s voice was flat, “And I’m not bringing your Gem back for Steven to worry about just because you’re bull-headed.”

 

Pearl scowled, but it didn’t have much effect on Jasper, who stared right back at her. “And your suggestion for how to avoid that _is_? Pull the core out? We have no spare parts, and—“

 

 

“ _Get help_!” Jasper roared, throwing her arms up in the air. “Don’t work like you’ve got something to prove when there is _nothing_ to prove! Nothing’s at stake here except your form and your ego! Make Garnet override the core! Remove wiring carefully! _Get help from Peridot_ , the technician, who’s _designed_ to do this!” the bigger Gem snapped right back, “Do _not_ risk yourself _needlessly_ just to drive home the idea that you’re not a common pearl when _not a single Gem on this Diamond-forsaken planet thinks that but **you**_!”

 

By now, Jasper, too, was flushed, frustrated, and angry. Pearl said nothing, then looked down at the slice the ship had taken out of her left palm, and she sighed. Jasper wasn’t wrong, and that was… not exactly comforting.

 

“I’ll get Garnet,” Pearl murmured, unable to look Jasper in the eye as she stood and gathered up a towel. “And I’ll ask Peridot what she thinks before I proceed further.”

 

“ _Good_ ,” Jasper huffed angrily, “And what else?”

 

Pearl stiffened, uncertain of what else Jasper wanted from her. After an excruciatingly long pause, she turned, looking up at her warily. “What else is there?”

 

Jasper rolled her eyes. “For the love of—And stop acting like you’re just some average pearl! Everyone knows you aren’t! So stop trying to play at something you’re not and just be _you_. Only maybe a little more cautious, since you apparently can’t take on a project without risking your form!”

 

The smaller Gem stared for several long seconds, then managed a laugh. “Was this a pep talk?” she asked, covering the beginnings of a wry grin with one hand. “Was all this yelling meant to be _encouraging_ , Jasper?”

 

It was Jasper’s turn to flush, cheeks blazing and eyes astoundingly open and _guilty_. “It works on quartzes,” she countered defensively, and Pearl couldn’t hide her laughter.

 

“You’re almost sweet. But try skipping to the sincere part for better results on _pearls_ ,” the alabaster Gem half-teased, and she folded her towel and walked back up the beach, toward the house, in search of Garnet, leaving Jasper altogether confused and uncertain as to whether she had helped in the end, or if her point had even made it across at all. 


End file.
